What does pleating mean?
Pleating is the technique of forming fabric into regular, narrow folds, called pleats, that may be sewn down to create shape, movement, or decoration. It is especially associated with clothing and textiles, including skirts, jackets, curtains, and other garments. Pleats can be crisp and knife-like, broad and box-shaped, or arranged in a radiating pattern, and the word can refer either to the making of these folds or to the finished pleated material. Unlike ordinary creasing, which often results from bending or pressing fabric, pleating is usually a deliberate and controlled process performed during construction. The word is also used more broadly for any repeated folded pattern. Its history connects it to the Latin verb for folding, a root also found in words such as “plicate,” “explicit,” and “complicate.”
nounThe act or process of making pleats, or the folds themselves. It can also refer to pleated fabric or decorative material formed into regular folds.
- The process or technique of making pleats in fabric.
- Pleats or pleated material considered collectively.
"The skirt's fine vertical pleating gives it a graceful, structured silhouette."
"She adjusted the pleating of her jacket before the presentation."
"The tailor recommended fine pleating for the lightweight wool."
From a single Latin root for “fold,” pleating became a fashion language for turning flat fabric into movement, structure, and rhythm.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does pleating come from?
The word derives from Middle English “pleten,” meaning to fold or gather fabric, which came through Anglo-French from the Old French verb “plier,” “to fold.” That French word ultimately continues Latin “plicare,” the source of related English words including “plicate,” “explicit,” and “complicate.” The present form “pleating” developed from the related base “pleat” and became established in the language of textiles and clothing.
Related word forms
How pleating is actually used
The term is most common in textiles, fashion, and tailoring. It usually describes repeated, deliberate folds rather than the general action of creasing an item.
Easily confused with pleating
Pleating means making narrow, usually pressed folds in fabric, whereas plaiting generally refers to weaving or braiding strands together.
Pleating creates repeated folds for shaping or decoration, while creasing usually describes making one or a few fold lines in an item.